Through the eyes of an Uncle
by Phoenix-Fire Power
Summary: What if Hughes was closer as a family member to Edward and Alphonse then we first thought? Better then the summary trust me.


-1**A/N: ****hey people!**

**Ok this is my second ever FMA story ever. And I hope I did well with it.**

**I got this idea when I was watching an old episode of FMA before Hughes died [wah why did he have to die? He was such a great character!] And I realized something. I froze the picture when he came onto the screen and I saw that he had a golden eyes, darker then Edwards of course but still golden.**

**And here's how it went in my head:**

**The wheels started moving very slowly you could hear the creeks and the sound of rusting metal starting to move. **

**Hughes= golden eyes**

**Edward=golden eyes**

**Hohenheim= golden eyes…**

**You could hear the wheels and the metal start to move faster and faster and then stops.**

**And I thought…what was I thinking?**

**I shrugged and returned to the episode. I then skipped and went to where we first saw Hohenheim for the first time and I saw his golden eyes. In my head the faces of Hohenheim and Hughes kept flashing together until I felt something hit me.**

**They might be brothers…which means that Hughes is Ed and Al's uncle! **

**I was so happy at this possibility that I was clapping my hands and jumping around. My father was used to that by now because he knows me and my stories thing so he just rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing.**

**Then all of a sudden I stopped and realized how impossible that was. My best friend Sara, whom I was turning into an FMA fan, was sitting there waiting for this to happen said "Reality came back and bit you in the ass huh"?**

**I said "Yeah in both cheeks too".**

**I flopped down and Sara watched me. She turned around and I could have heard her say "And three, two, one".**

**That's when it hit me once more.**

**I was a fanfictoin writer. Who needed reality when I had fan fiction?**

**She turned once more to me and asked "Your mind finally put two and two together huh"?**

**All I had to do was nod and steal the computer, we were watching the episodes on my laptop obviously, and sat down and started to type. All she did was roll her eyes and take the remote control to see what was on TV since I was obviously going to be busy for some time so it meant that she couldn't finish watching the FMA episode.**

**Wow that was a long explanation.**

**Ok I know this is farfetched but this is fan fiction so what I say goes.**

**Pairings: ****Mentions of Ed/Win and Parental Maes/Ed**

**Something that I don't know what to call: ****mentions from both the anime and the manga but mostly the anime.**

**Disclaimer: ****I own nothing. So if you sue me you get nothing.**

I knew who he was the moment I saw him.

I didn't need to read the name in the file or ask him anything. It was all in his face who he was.

The son of my older brother. Hohenheim, and his current last name taken from his late wife, Elric.

Yes who'd expect that Maes Hughes was the younger brother of the Hohenheim of Light.

No one ever suspected anything. They never quite knew what he really looked like, just his workings and knowledge of alchemy.

I never had the talent for alchemy or interest of it at any point of his life. I was more of a different kind of reader. I preferred real facts and mysteries opposed to some fable facts or unspoken challenges. In each alchemy circle was a challenge to either prove them wrong or make it something else. It was deemed at a point in time ungodly or demon magic. That was a sign to me that it had to stop but mankind was stubborn and held onto the absurdity of alchemy.

Looking into the golden eyes of a young sixteen year old my mind flashed back momentarily to the past. I felt like a little boy again clutching the pant leg of his older brother and looking up at him. He looked down at me as well and he felt for a moment that those eyes were looking into his soul, the very same feeling that he was experiencing right at this moment.

I remembered the first time Hohenheim met Dante. She felt if nothing more then evil. She only wanted power and would destroy anyone in her way to get it.

At least that's how i see it when she looked at him. I warned Hohenheim time and time again that she didn't care about him to not see her anymore but my pleas fell upon deaf ears.

I heaved a heavy sigh as i watched my nephews play with his daughter unknowing that they were in fact cousins. Although Elicia called them her brothers so maybe they weren't that far apart.

My own golden eyes, a darker shade then Hohenheim or Edwards although, glazed over as I remembered the past.

Imagine my surprise when coming to my house one day a complete stranger was waiting at my front door acting as if he knew me.

Upon further introduction I found that my older brother had discovered the secret to immortality. By his soul jumping from his old body to a new body he was able to live longer. The way he was able to jump from body to body was by the use of an alchemic artifact. The Philosophers Stone.

I had lectured him and tried to reason with him. That this wasn't right. I didn't know much about alchemy but I knew that life and death was part of a cycle that he followed and 'preached' to others.

He listened to me. He watched my every move, and let me tell you it's a bit unusual to have my brothers eyes, and the more I looked at his face the more I saw the strangers face become more and more like his old one which was freaking me out inwardly, I never let my emotions show on my face.

He watched me and I believe listened to my ranting and when I finished all he did was smile. He reached into his coat pocket and withdraw some sort of object.

He placed it on the table that we were sitting next to and where our drinks were, got up, and before he left he said "For you little brother. I know you will use it when the time comes" and just like that left without a backwards glance.

I sighed and sat down rubbing my eyes. As I smoothed my hair back I looked at the foreign object, I picked it up and held it by my fingertips.

It wasn't light but not that heavy for its size either. It was a blood red color and even though it was a rock that looked fairly new its cleavage was smooth and a clean cut through.

I couldn't help but wonder something. How did they make it? If I knew something about alchemy it was Equivalent Exchange. In order to gain something of equal value must be given.

I put the stone in a drawer in my desk and did my best to forget it.

I remembered when Hohenheim used the stone on my own soul against my will. I was sick and I was dieing, I had accepted that.

I was ready to go to the unknown and when I saw nothing but darkness and a rushing and a painful sensation in my body I believed that it was my time. I had to admit I was more then a bit nervous and anxious and even a bit scared. I felt a different sensation all of a sudden. I felt lighter and through my closed eyes I saw a flashing of a gateway before spiraling away into the darkness.

I opened my eyes and to my surprise I saw the face of my brother looking at me.

When I opened my eyes he had a relieved smile on his face and asked me "Little brother"?

"Hohenheim" I said in confusion.

He smiled again and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. For a moment I believed I had somehow gotten the wrong soul" he said with a bit of a laugh in the end.

This body felt wrong. Not like my own.

I felt a tugging at my sleeve and I was jolted back to present. When I looked down I saw my beloved daughter staring at me with her wide, innocent, and trustful eyes.

I smiled and bent down to pick her up in my arms. She shrieked with laughter as I threw her slightly in the air.

I walked her back outside where Al and Ed were sitting and waiting for her.

It was like looking into a mirror of the past. Hohenheim was sitting there. The sun hitting the golden hues in his hair and brightening his eyes even more.

He blinked a few times to reassure himself that it was not Hohenheim his brother but Edward his nephew.

Nephew. That's something unfortunately Edward will never know. That he does have a family some where. That he wasn't alone.

He drifted off to the past once more. Even after his constant refusal Hohenheim had continued to transfer his soul with his as well into a different brother.

His excuse was that Maes was his little brother and older brothers look after their younger brothers.

'_Well you helped me Hohenheim but what about your sons? You might be a good older brother but you are a failure as a father'._

It was harsh but true.

He said that Trisha was his one true love, his two sons showing that but then again he also had a son with Dante. Granted he died and was brought back a monster that he wouldn't wish to claim as his own but it was still his son.

A part of him agreed with using the Philosophers Stone, he himself was a quite a bit scared about death but now he knew what laid ahead.

Going beyond the gate.

That's where all souls go to when they die. And they are reincarnated as the one who looks like them on the other side. Fitted into that life not even knowing that it happened. People looking exactly like your loved ones but they don't recognize who you are but most likely if you were on that side you were dead and had no memory of your previous life.

I watched as Elicia tackled Edward and he 'fell' in defeat.

"Get up big brother" she said to him before he grabbed her and put her on his shoulders.

He let a smile go on his face.

Their bodies were starting to rot faster and faster with each transfer of souls. The conclusion was this: their souls were finally running out of energy to sustain enough to power their bodies. There really was no such a thing of eternal life. After over 400 years he was ready to have this body be his last one.

He understood what Hohenheim had said about wanting to grow old and die with his family.

He felt the same about Gracia and elicia. She was the love he was waiting for all of his life and elicia was resulted. He quite obviously adored her with all the pictures, hundreds according to everyone he showed them to he usually scoffed at that he was showing them an angel and they wert complaining, she was his pride and joy and everything.

I had only heard that Hohenheim had married once more he heard nothing about children.

He first saw Edward being escorted by Mustang and he had to take a double-glance and to look at his surroundings to ensure that it wasn't Hohenheim and it was someone else. But who else could've looked like that?

He learned as much as he could from the files given to him. He flashed back to the file he managed to swipe and what it contained.

**Name: **Edward Elric

**Age: **12 years

**Height: **Subject became extremely violent when measured and were unable to get an accurate measuring but estimated to be about 130''cm

**Weight: **About 90lbs and automail, right arm and left leg, about 20lbs

**Family:**

**Father: **Hohenheim of Light, location currently unknown

**Mother: **Trisha Elric, deceased

**Brother: **Alphonse Elric

**Age: 11 years** applied for a Alchemy license but dropped before physical exam.

**State Name: **Fullmetal Alchemist

**Subject shows high knowledge of alchemy. Ability to have use of alchemy without use of a transmutation circle. Becomes extremely violent when referred to his height. Right arm and left leg made of automail from the East Area. **

I was amazed at some of the things written in there and how alike he and my brother were. Of course the biggest shock was seeing his name Hohenheim of Light under the 'Father' category but like I said I knew who he was the moment I saw him.

It said that Edward was a bit sensitive about his height well Hohenheim wasn't, in fact he was all ways the tallest person I knew, except he exploded if someone insulted his intelligence when he was a teenager as well. Like a volcano spewing lava.

When I saw Edward explode after being called short from one of Roy's subordinates I had to stiffen a laugh at how alike he and Hohenheim looked at that moment.

He held himself the same way, talked, and acted the same way that Hohenheim did when he was a teen.

When I found out about who he was I showed an interest in them outwardly mostly because of their abilities. But it wasn't long before Roy asked me why I was so interested in them all of a sudden and I told him everything.

Roy Mustang in a way is more of a brother to me then Hohenheim ever was. They were both alchemy nuts but unlike Hohenheim Roy put down the books and entered the real world.

I told him, after I had confessed to being Ed and Al's uncle, that I was a bit disgusted with Hohenheim. He told me that when he met Trisha that she was the one and only for him. That the body of that man he took was going to be his last one so he can die along side of his true wife.

Well he said the same thing about Dante and look what happened there. A monster for a son. I'm just glad the same thing didn't happen to Edward or Alphonse. They've had enough troubles without adding becoming Homunculi to the mix.

Roy then asked me what I intended to do about Ed and Al. reveal myself to be there uncle and legally adopt them? Tell just them so they know that they have family?

After a moments thinking I decided I wouldn't do any of that.

They didn't know me and it wasn't fair for me to all of a sudden come into their lives like this. Granted I never had any knowledge of them even existing previously but that's besides the point.

So instead I guess in their heads or maybe just in mine I became a father figure to them.

Whenever they were in Central I visited them, most of the times in the hospitals thanks to Edward harsh temper and want to fix things with fists instead of words like his brother.

I let them know that they were always welcome in my home, including their childhood friend Winry Rockbell whom I believe has a crush on Edward and deep down he does too but he has no time for romance or feelings like that. His first priority is to getting his brothers body back even if he didn't get his back.

I never told Gracia, there was no need to burden her with this knowledge, I know that she would try to either tell them or try to get the state to allow her to adopt them.

Maybe I'll tell them some time in the future after their bodies are restored I'll let them know that their family isn't all dead and they do have a family waiting for them. But for now as I watch them play with Elicia I see his eyes look over at mine and I feel that old feeling that his eyes are looking into my soul and see everything there is. Everything I am hiding from him and his brother. And maybe, just maybe, subconsciously he knows who I am and he is grateful.

But then his attention is diverted to Elicia again and he lifts her once more into the air.

I am his and Alphonse's uncle. They are my nephews. And I will do everything in my power to keep them safe and out of harms way to the best of my ability.

**Ok there you have it.**

**Yes I know it was a bit confusing but I liked it.**

**Can you tell what was taken from the anime and what was taken from the manga?**

**So leave your comments in a review. I would love to hear from you even if it was a flame.**

**So until next time this is Phoenix-Fire Power over and out.**


End file.
